By: Rediff, November 15, 2005
Terming it as a "dark year" for press with 51 journalists having lost their lives in the line of duty so far, the World Association of Newspapers has claimed that Asia was the worst region in the world for practising journalism. Over 500 journalists have also been arrested during 2005. Asia remained the worst region in the world for practicing journalism, considering the number of news persons prosecuted, lack of independent media outlets, and government repression of press freedom, the association said.
By: The Independent, November 16, 2005
Ownership: World leaders meet today to discuss regulation; US fighting to regain control of global network. Censorship: State power increasingly used to limit access; Dissenters beaten outside summit site. Over the next three days a United Nations summit, in the unlikely setting of Tunisia, will attempt to thrash out the future of the internet.
By: ForUm, November 16, 2005
At a meeting with France's politicians and business leaders at the French Institute for International Relations, Victor Yushchenko said he opposed Belarus' international isolation, and stressed that Ukraine was ready to help this country build democracy.
By: Today.az, November 15, 2005
Sardar Jalalogly informed APA news agency that on Monday Chairmen Council of "Azadliq" bloc held a meeting at the headquarters of Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan [reformists wing] where opposition leaders discussed results of the November 13 rally.
By: The New York Times, November 16, 2005
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Nov. 12 - Two years ago, when the government of Georgia collapsed during street protests against a tainted election, its fall energized pockets of revolutionary sentiment against the autocratic rulers who dominate the former Soviet Union. Then Ukraine fell amid similar outrage. And then Kyrgyzstan.
By: The Age, November 16, 2005
SOMETIMES - not often - you can walk away from an event feeling that you have seen history forming. That is how it was yesterday when a huge Melbourne crowd, primed by indignation and buoyed by unity, effectively told Prime Minister John Howard to pick up his proposed workplace laws and walk quickly over the hill and out of sight.
By: United Press International, November 15, 2005
Some 12,000 South Korean farmers clashed with police Tuesday as they launched a violent protest against APEC and globalization. Clashes erupted as angry protesters kicked, punched and hurled water bottles at riot police deployed to prevent demonstrators from entering the National Assembly building in central Seoul.
By: Anuj Chopra, CS Monitor, November 16, 2005
Bhaskar Prabhu is neither a powerful bureaucrat, nor an influential politician. Yet this civilian activist, working to clear a path for pedestrians in the Dadar area of central Bombay, has stopped vendors with unlicensed stalls from blocking public streets and walkways.
By: John Aglionby, Guardian Unlimited, November 15, 2005
The first video emerged yesterday of the new Burmese capital, Pyinmana, located deep in the jungle, 250 miles north of the long-time seat of government, Rangoon. It shows drab, grey buildings, few people in the streets and lots of construction in progress.
By: BBC, November 16, 2005
Mr Bush said Chinese people's demands for freedom were growing
US President George W Bush has urged China to allow more political freedoms, as he began an eight-day Asian tour. "We encourage China to continue down the road of reform and openness," he said, while visiting Japan.
By:Peter Baker and Anthony Faiola, Washington Post, November 17, 2005
President Bush and his South Korean counterpart presented a united front Thursday in pressuring North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program without additional concessions, despite calls just a day earlier by South Korea and China for a softer line.
By: BBC, November 16, 2005
Liberia's electoral authorities have begun an inquiry into fraud claims during last week's presidential polls. A ban on protest rallies has come into immediate effect. With all votes counted Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf won 59% in the run-off election.
By: The New York Times, November 16, 2005
MONROVIA, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Liberia's government banned street demonstrations on Tuesday while election officials investigate soccer star George Weah's allegations that a rigged run-off vote robbed him of the presidency.
By: BBC, November 16, 2005
The unrest in Uganda following the return and subsequent arrest of opposition leader Kizza Besigye prompts some hard questions in the press there and in neighbouring Kenya. Commentators are highly critical of the Kampala government's handling of the situation, with even Uganda's pro-government New Vision pointing the finger of blame.
By: BBC, November 16, 2005
The treason and rape case against Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye has been referred to the High Court, where he is expected to ask for bail. His wife Winnie Banyima told the BBC she thinks charges against him are "trumped up" and not a surprise.
By: VOA News, November 15, 2005
Human Rights Watch says bail should be granted to Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye and that he be given a fair trial. Mr. Besigye and 22 others were arrested Monday on charges of trying to topple the government. He also faces a separate charge of rape.
By: BBC, November 15, 2005
Opposition parties have alleged fraud and intimidation in voting
Violence has marred run-off voting in the first round of Egyptian parliamentary elections. A woman was shot and injured outside a polling station in a working-class area in Cairo, hospital sources said.
By: Guardian Unlimited, November 15, 2005
Rory McCarthy finds a glaring gap between reform promises and voting practices in Egypt's parliamentary elections. Egypt's month-long parliamentary elections have only just begun and several more days of voting lie ahead, but already there is one clear loser. Ayman Nour, a long-time MP and liberal opposition figure who was the strongest challenger to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in the country's first presidential election this autumn, has lost his seat.